Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law; Director, Center on National Security and the Law
A.B., Dartmouth; J.D., Yale

Office Location: McDonough 5th Floor

Assistant: Dianne McDonald

Phone: 9402

Biography

• Extensive Website with Scholarship.

Neal Katyal, a Professor at Georgetown University Law School, recently won Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in the United States Supreme Court, a case that challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba. The Supreme Court sided with him by a 5-3 vote, finding that President Bush's tribunals violated the constitutional separation of powers, domestic military law, and international law. As former Solicitor General and Duke law professor Walter Dellinger put it "Hamdan is simply the most important decision on presidential power and the rule of law ever. Ever." An expert in matters of constitutional law, particularly the role of the President and Congress in time of war and theories of constitutional interpretation, Katyal has embraced his theoretical work as the platform for practical consequences in the federal courts.

Katyal previously served as National Security Adviser in the U.S. Justice Department and was commissioned by President Clinton to write a report on the need for more legal pro bono work. He also served as Vice President Al Gore's co-counsel in the Supreme Court election dispute of 2000, and represented the Deans of most major private law schools in the landmark University of Michigan affirmative-action case Grutter v. Bollinger (2003). Katyal clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer as well as Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals. He attended Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. His Articles have appeared in virtually every major law review and newspaper in America.

Katyal was named Lawyer of the Year in 2006 by Lawyers USA, Runner-Up for Lawyer of the Year 2006 by National Law Journal, one of the top 50 litigators nationwide 45 years old or younger by American Lawyer (2007), one of the 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers Over the Last 30 Years by Legal Times (2008); one of the top 500 lawyers in the country by LawDragon Magazine (in 2006 and again in 2007), one of the 30 best advocates before the U.S. Supreme Court by Washingtonian Magazine (2007); and one of 10 Non-Resident Indian Achievers Worldwide by Hindustan Times.  He has also been awarded the Town of Salem, Massachusetts Prize (2007); the ACLU Foundation’s Roger Baldwin Award (2007), the National Asian Pacific Bar Association Trailblazer Award (2007), and the 2004 National Law Journal pro bono award for his work.

His primary academic interests are Constitutional Law (primarily war powers, separation of powers, constitutional legitimacy, presidential power, slavery and affirmative action), Criminal Law (particularly cybercrime, conspiracy, architectural solutions to crime and the role of deterrence), and Education Law.

Katyal has appeared on every major American nightly news program, as well as in other venues, such as the Colbert Report.